VS 640 issues.

[Constantine]

Hello everyone.

I have a Roland VS640. I've had it for about 11 years now and it has been a pretty good machine. For a while now, I've been fighting with some faint CMYK lines that print around the 42" mark. Usually they're not very noticeable, but I would like to finally fix the issue. Just recently (yesterday) the printer has begun stopping before a print is complete. Versaworks would say the print job is 80% done, the display on the printer shows "Now Processing", but the carriage will sit over the cap top. If I lightly slap the side, the carriage will make a pass, but then come back and it won't do it again. What could the issues be on this? I've read through posts here saying to clean the encoder strip and also lube the rail bearing. Lubing the bearing...no problem. Where is the encoder strip though? What does it look like and what's the best method for cleaning it?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.
Constantine

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

Any photos of the issue?
I'm suspecting a dirty encoder strip at the moment.

It's a clear strip that runs along the back of the main rail that the head travels across. There are very tiny lines printed on it that enable the machine to determine where across the rail the head is so it can drop ink appropriately. If it gets dirty it can get confused as to where the head is and either print in the wrong location or travel back home unexpectedly.

How to clean one:

 

[Joseph44708]

Any photos of the issue?
I'm suspecting a dirty encoder strip at the moment.

It's a clear strip that runs along the back of the main rail that the head travels across. There are very tiny lines printed on it that enable the machine to determine where across the rail the head is so it can drop ink appropriately. If it gets dirty it can get confused as to where the head is and either print in the wrong location or travel back home unexpectedly.

How to clean one:

Thank You for this info. My roland XR 640 just did this today.
I'll be cleaning the En oder strip in the morning.

 

[zopylote]

Hello everyone.

I have a Roland VS640. I've had it for about 11 years now and it has been a pretty good machine. For a while now, I've been fighting with some faint CMYK lines that print around the 42" mark. Usually they're not very noticeable, but I would like to finally fix the issue. Just recently (yesterday) the printer has begun stopping before a print is complete. Versaworks would say the print job is 80% done, the display on the printer shows "Now Processing", but the carriage will sit over the cap top. If I lightly slap the side, the carriage will make a pass, but then come back and it won't do it again. What could the issues be on this? I've read through posts here saying to clean the encoder strip and also lube the rail bearing. Lubing the bearing...no problem. Where is the encoder strip though? What does it look like and what's the best method for cleaning it?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.
Constantine

flat cables from main board to carriage board they are three, change them, cables are cheap but job is not to cheap

 

[Constantine]

Any photos of the issue?
I'm suspecting a dirty encoder strip at the moment.

It's a clear strip that runs along the back of the main rail that the head travels across. There are very tiny lines printed on it that enable the machine to determine where across the rail the head is so it can drop ink appropriately. If it gets dirty it can get confused as to where the head is and either print in the wrong location or travel back home unexpectedly.

How to clean one:

I'm sorry for the delayed reply. Thank you for the information. I plan on addressing the issue this weekend. I don't have any new pics, but will post some when I have a chance. Thanks again.

 

[Constantine]

flat cables from main board to carriage board they are three, change them, cables are cheap but job is not to cheap

OK, thank you for this information. I'm not afraid to work on this printer, as I've done it before. I'll get some cables for it and swap them out. Thanks again.

 

[Constantine]

I wanted to share an update on my issues. We appear to be FIXED! Read on. Upon watching the video provided above regarding the cleaning of the encoder strip, we went ahead and followed the procedure. Unfortunately, it didn't work and my machine was still making CMYK lines. I was having issues getting the local dealer to provide me a quote to come look at the machine and replace the main board, as that was the consensus at the time as to why the machine would just stop printing. I was, at the same time, going to have them replace the encoder strip as well. Since I couldn't get the dealer to give me a quote quickly (remember, I have jobs lined up), I found Jim Hancock's phone number here on the forum as I was searching through threads. If you haven't called him to help you with your issues, I would highly recommend it. Anyway, upon speaking with him, he was willing to help me replace the main board and walk me through the steps over the phone. When I described the CMYK lines to Jim and told him I cleaned the strip, he asked me how I did the cleaning and told him. He, then instructed me to clean the strip using acetone...not alcohol. I had a job I had to run, so we cleaned the strip with the acetone and loaded the job. The printer printed the job in it's entirety. We loaded another job and it printed it as well. Then loaded a vehicle wrap panel after panel like normal, and it completed everything beautifully. So...if you have issues with the machine stopping, having CMYK lines showing up where they're not supposed to, try cleaning that encoder strip with acetone. Also...I highly recommend calling Jim Hancock if you need help with your machines.

Sorry for the long story, but thought it would be helpful to someone.

This forum saved me a lot of money and time. Thank you all!

Constantine Pappas
C & K Designs, LLC
Weatherford, TX
817-440-2756
www.ckdesignslv.com
facebook.com/ckdesignslv

 

[S2DZ]

Hello,
can someone help me understand this problem on my VS60? Do I need to replace the main board?
The machine was stopped for a long time and we replaced the printhead.

 

[Joseph44708]

That looks like contaminated media.
Advance it about 2ft and reprint test

 

[cornholio]

could be wrongly connected flat cables or bad head. (The bow in the magenta shouts: bad head)

 

[S2DZ]

The technician says that:
"The microprocessor on the board which is the key element is not good."

But I'm not very convinced with that answer.